Springfield City Council approves new ward map 9-1

The Springfield City Council on Tuesday in a 9-1 vote approved an updated ward map that gives the city's Ward 2 a 60 percent minority population.

By Jamie MunksStaff Writer

The Springfield City Council on Tuesday in a 9-1 vote approved an updated ward map that gives the city's Ward 2 a 60 percent minority population.

The map's approval didn't come before some disagreement, and after a divided council voted down a counterproposal.

Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman proposed an amendment to the map that would have kept the whole Enos Park neighborhood in his ward, rather than putting a four-block area within the Ward 3 boundaries, Cahnman said.

Meanwhile, Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson vehemently opposed any map that would take the minority population of her ward below 60 percent.

“It's a shame in 2014 we sit here and are fighting to make sure we get at least one black representative on this body,” Simpson said.

The city council currently has two black members, Simpson and Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner.

A 1987 consent decree established Springfield's aldermanic form of government, a response to a lawsuit that challenged the city's earlier commission form of government that violated the Voting Rights Act because it diluted the minority vote.

According to the city code, a revised map that equally divides Springfield's population into 10 wards based on 2010 Census data needed to be approved by the city council 90 days before the first day of filing for the 2015 city elections, which makes the deadline Aug. 19. One of the city's wards must consist of a majority of minority residents, which is Ward 2 on the east side.

Teresa Haley, president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP, addressed the council before its vote and said the organization opposes any map that would draw the minority population of Ward 2 below 60 percent, and cautioned that such a decrease could result in another lawsuit.

There seemed to be some confusion among aldermen about what exactly was required for the composition of the ward that must be made up of a majority of minority residents. Under the ward map that the council approved in 2002, city officials said Ward 2 had a population of just over 59 percent minority residents.

“I'm trying to figure out where 60 percent came from, because (city council) didn't pass a map with 60 percent 10 years ago,” said Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe, who cast the lone “no” vote against the ward map that was ultimately approved.

Jobe declined to comment on his reasons after the meeting.

City Attorney Todd Greenburg clarified that one ward must have a majority of minority residents, but it doesn't specify that it must be 60 percent. The new map is in line with the consent decree and state law, he said.

Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards, who initially proposed the ward remap, said his understanding was that a minority population around 60 percent for Ward 2 was more akin to “a gentlemen's agreement.”

Greenburg said he wasn't sure what would happen if the council decreased the minority population of Ward 2 from what was approved in 2002, if that were challenged legally.

“I can't promise you what a court would do about going below 59 percent,” Greenburg said.

Cahnman proposed the amendment to keep the Enos Park neighborhood within Ward 5, following concerns he heard from the Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association, he said.

Ward 4 Ald. Frank Lesko voted against the amendment because it would have slightly decreased the minority population of Ward 2 from the roughly 59 percent that was approved in 2002.

Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin also opposed the amendment, but for a different reason, he said.

“I'm going to vote ‘no' for this amendment and it has nothing to do with minority representation,” McMenamin said, adding that he had concerns about changes being made by aldermen to suit their interests. “I think it's dangerous to go down that path and carve out your ward based on personal preferences.”

The amended map that Cahnman proposed failed in a 4-6 vote, and after the meeting, he said he would have preferred to see the council hold off on approving the new map until the next city council meeting so perhaps the 60 percent minority population in Ward 2 and keeping the Enos Park neighborhood together could have been part of the finalized plan.

“I prefer to have the 60 percent minority majority, and I would have been OK with continuing discussion for two more weeks,” Cahnman said. “But the council seemed to want to take a vote tonight.”

There were 16 ordinances and resolutions on the council's agenda for first reading Tuesday night, which will be discussed at next week's committee of the whole meeting. Among them are two high-profile issues: a proposal to create an inspector general position to look into wrongdoing within city government, and the city's $3.75 million contract with NAPA Auto Parts for the parts room at its consolidated vehicle maintenance garage.

In an email sent to aldermen Tuesday, Mayor Mike Houston said that a resolution reaffirming the city's contract with NAPA is on the agenda for next week's committee meeting. In the meantime, he said, he has reached out to NAPA representatives and “requested that we mutually agree to the contract cancellation” and said city staff are in the process of preparing a request for proposals for parts services for the garage.

The process that went into procuring that contract that the council approved in April was called into question recently, with a number of aldermen saying they'd support terminating the contract and putting it out for competitive bids.